1.
Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth

3.
1903
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As of the start of 1903, the Gregorian calendar was 13 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923. January 1 – Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India, January 19 – The first west–east transatlantic radio broadcast is made from the United States to England. February 11 – The Oxnard strike of 1903 becomes the first time in U. S. history that a union is formed from members of different races. February 15 – Morris and Rose Michtom introduce the first teddy bear in the United States, february 17 – El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico becomes part of the United States National Forest System as the Luquillo Forest Reserve. February 23 – Cuba leases Guantánamo Bay to the United States in perpetuity, march 2 – In New York City, the Martha Washington Hotel, the first hotel exclusively for women, opens. March 3 – The British Admiralty announces plans to build a base at Rosyth. March 4 – Beşiktaş J. K. founded, march 5 – The Ottoman Empire and the German Empire sign an agreement to build the Constantinople–Baghdad Railway. March 12 – The University of Puerto Rico is founded, march 14 – The Hay–Herrán Treaty, granting the United States the right to build the Panama Canal, is ratified by the United States Senate. The Colombian Senate later rejects the treaty, april 26 – Atletico Madrid, as well known for professional football club in Spain, officially founded. April 29 – A 30-million-m3 landslide kills 70-90 in Frank, Alberta, april 29 – The 7.0 Ms Manzikert earthquake affects eastern Turkey, leaving 3,500 dead. May 4 – The leading Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary Gotse Delchev is killed in a skirmish with the Turkish army, may 18 – The port of Burgas, Bulgaria opens. May 24 – The Paris–Madrid race for automobiles begins, during which at least eight people are killed, june 11 – Serbian King Alexander Obrenović and Queen Draga are assassinated in Belgrade by the Black Hand organization. June 14 – The town of Heppner, Oregon, is destroyed by a cloud burst that resulted in a flash flood that kills an estimated 238 people. July 1–July 19 – First Tour de France bicycle race, won by Maurice Garin, july 7 – The British take over the Fulani Empire. July 23 – Dr. Ernst Pfenning of Chicago becomes the first owner of a Ford Model A, july 29 – Explosion of a United States Cartridge Company magazine destroys 70 homes killing 22 residents of Tewksbury, Massachusetts. July 30–August 23 – Second Congress of the All-Russian Social Democratic Labour Party held in exile in Brussels, august 2 – The Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising, organized by the Secret Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization, breaks out in the Ottoman provinces of Macedonia and Adrianople. August 4 – Pope Pius X succeeds Pope Leo XIII as the 257th pope, august 10 – Paris Métro train fire takes place. August 25 – The Judiciary Act is passed in the Australian parliament, september – Texas State University in San Marcos, TX opens its doors as Southwest Texas Normal School

4.
Alfonso XIII of Spain
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Alfonso XIII was King of Spain from 1886 until the proclamation of the Second Republic in 1931. Alfonso was monarch from birth as his father, Alfonso XII, had died the previous year, Alfonsos mother, Maria Christina of Austria, served as regent until he assumed full powers on his sixteenth birthday in 1902. With the political failure of the dictatorship, Alfonso impelled a return to the democratic normality with the intention of regenerating the regime, nevertheless, it was abandoned by all political classes, as they felt betrayed by the kings support of the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera. He left Spain voluntarily after the elections of April 1931. In exile, he retained his claim to the throne until 1941. Buried in Rome, his remains were not transferred until 1980 to the Pantheon of the Kings in the monastery of El Escorial, Alfonso was born in Madrid on 17 May 1886. He was the son of Alfonso XII of Spain, who had died in November 1885. The French newspaper Le Figaro described the king in 1889 as the happiest. His mother, Maria Christina of Austria, served as his regent until his 16th birthday, during the regency, in 1898, Spain lost its colonial rule over Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines to the United States as a result of the Spanish–American War. When he came of age in May 1902, the week of his majority was marked by festivities, bullfights, balls, by 1905, Alfonso was looking for a suitable consort. On a state visit to the United Kingdom, he stayed at Buckingham Palace with King Edward VII, there he met Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, the Scottish-born daughter of Edwards youngest sister Princess Beatrice, and a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. He found her attractive, and she returned his interest, there were obstacles to the marriage. Victoria was a Protestant, and would have to become a Catholic, Victorias brother Leopold was a haemophiliac, so there was a 50 percent chance that Victoria was a carrier of the trait. Victoria was willing to change her religion, and her being a carrier was only a possibility. Maria Christina was eventually persuaded to drop her opposition, in January 1906 she wrote an official letter to Princess Beatrice proposing the match. Victoria met Maria Christina and Alfonso in Biarritz, France, later that month, in May, diplomats of both kingdoms officially executed the agreement of marriage. Alfonso and Victoria were married at the Royal Monastery of San Jerónimo in Madrid on 31 May 1906, with British royalty in attendance, including Victorias cousins the Prince, the wedding was marred by an assassination attempt on Alfonso and Victoria by Catalan anarchist Mateu Morral. As the wedding procession returned to the palace, he threw a bomb from a window which killed or injured several bystanders and members of the procession, on 10 May 1907, the couples first child, Alfonso, Prince of Asturias, was born

5.
Prime Minister of Spain
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The current office is established under the Constitution of 1978. In practice, the Prime Minister is almost always the leader of the largest party in the Congress, since current constitutional practice in Spain calls for the King to act on the advice of his ministers, the Prime Minister is effectively the countrys chief executive. Mariano Rajoy Brey of the Peoples Party has been the minister since he was sworn in on December 21,2011. The Spanish head of government is known, in Spanish, as the Presidente del Gobierno, in Spain the head of the government is often called simply Presidente, meaning President. Before 1833 the figure was known as Secretario de Estado, a denomination used today for junior ministers, once a general election has been announced by the king, political parties nominate their candidates to stand for the presidency of the government-usually the party leader. Constitutionally, the Prime Minister and the cabinet are responsible to the monarch, on paper, the monarch is free to name anyone he sees fit as his prerogative to form a government. For this reason, the Prime Minister is usually the leader of the largest party in the Congress. By political custom established by Juan Carlos I since the ratification of the 1978 Constitution, however, there is no legal requirement for this. In theory, the largest party could end up not ruling if rival parties gather into a majority, the monarch is normally able to announce his nominee on the day following a general election. A simple majority confirms the nominee and his program, after the nominee is confirmed, the Speaker of the Congress formally reports to the king of the congressional confirmation. The king then appoints the candidate as the new President of the Government, the kings order of appointment is countersigned by the Speaker. If no overall majority was obtained on the first Vote of the Confidence, then the same nominee and program is resubmitted for a second vote within forty-eight hours. Following the second vote, if confidence by the Congress is still unreached, then the monarch again meets with political leaders and the Speaker, and submits a new nominee for a vote of confidence. If, within two months, no candidate has won the confidence of the Congress then the King dissolves the Cortes, the Kings royal decree is countersigned by the Speaker of the Congress. Once appointed, the President of the Government forms his government whose ministers are appointed and removed by the King on the presidents advice, conversely, nominating the party leader whose party maintains a plurality and who are already familiar with their party manifesto facilitates a smoother nomination process. In the event of coalitions, the leaders would customarily have met beforehand to hammer out a coalition agreement before their meeting with the King. Governments and the Cortes sit for a no longer than four years when the president tenders his resignation to the king and advises the king to dissolve the Cortes. It remains within the prerogative to dissolve the Cortes if, at the conclusion of the four years

6.
Francisco Silvela
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Francisco Silvela y Le Vielleuze was a Spanish politician who became the 52nd Prime Minister of Spain on 7 March 1899, succeeding Práxedes Mateo Sagasta. He served in capacity until 24 October 1900. Silvela also served a term from 6 December 1902 to 20 July 1903. Francisco Silvela belonged to the Conservative Party led by Antonio Cánovas del Castillo and he became leader of the Party after the assassination of Cánovas in 1897. His government concluded the German–Spanish Treaty, selling the remainder of the Spanish East Indies, francisco Silvela named the general Arsenio Linares y Pombo, who had fought in the Spanish–American War, Minister of War in 1900. Francisco Silvela withdrew from politics in 1903 and appointed Antonio Maura as his successor and he died in Madrid in 1905. Francisco Silvela married Amelia Loring Heredia, their children were Jorge and Tomas

7.
Antonio Maura
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Born in Palma de Mallorca on the Balearic Island of Majorca, Maura studied law in Madrid. In 1878 Maura married Constancia Gamazo y Calvo, sister of Germán Gamazo y Calvo and they had several sons and a daughter together, many of whom have been prominent in Spanish and European history. He entered the Cortes Generales in 1881 as a delegate for Majorca. In 1886 Maura was elected as president of the Congress of Deputies. As prime minister, he created the Spanish Institute of Provission and he attempted to out a reform plan. He fell from power after his suppression of an uprising in Barcelona in 1909, the execution of Francesc Ferrer, who was charged with leading the Tragic Week uprising, provoked a European-wide outcry which contributed to Mauras downfall. Maura was a hero of a movement, the Mauristas. This and Mauras ambition caused him to fall out with the King, Maura later headed coalition cabinets with other parties, but he did nothing to advance unconstitutional methods. Many of his followers supported the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera. When he was Prime Minister during the reign of Alfonso XIII, he spent summers at the estate of Can Mossenya, chopin and George Sand had stayed there in the previous century. Azorín traveled from the continent to meet Maura there, Maura became a prolific watercolorist, often painting scenes of nature or old buildings from past eras. He died in Torrelodones, Madrid in 1925, the International Foundation Can Mossenya named an entrance to its historic estate the Gate of Friendship – Azorín and Maura after the mens encounter. Pablo Semprún professional paddle tennis player

8.
1588 in Spain
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Events in the year 1588 in Spain. The English fleet is under the command of Lord Howard of Effingham with Sir Francis Drake as Vice Admiral, july 23 - The English and Spanish fleets meet again, off Portland, the English again have the better of it. July 29 - The English fleet defeats the Armada at the Battle of Gravelines, august 2 - The fleeing Spanish fleet sails past the Firth of Forth and the English call off their pursuit. Much of the Spanish fleet will be destroyed by storms as it sails for home around Scotland and Ireland. September 23-November 13 - Siege of Bergen op Zoom, Spanish siege defeated by Dutch garrison October 26 - Conspiracy of the Maharlikas, governor-General Santiago de Vera is informed of the plot by Captain Pedro Sarmiento, encomendero of Calamianes. De Vera orders the arrest and execution of the conspirators, february 9 - Álvaro de Bazán, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz